Solid wood doors have been utilized for centuries. The preferred type of solid wood door does not utilize a simple flat piece of wood. Rather, the doors are manufactured as "n" panel doors, with a typical value of n being four or six.
FIG. 1 shows a typical prior art solid wood four panel door 101. The door is manufactured from numerous vertical styles 103a-103c and horizontal rails 102a-102c. During manufacture, rails 102a-102c are first joined to style 103a. Next, the two left hand panels 104 are placed appropriately, and the center rail 102c is connected to the arrangement, thereby holding the panels in place. Next, the two rightmost panels are installed, after which the rightmost rail 103c is joined, thus completing the solid wood door.
The door can have any different number of panels, and can be made of oak, pine, cherry, or any of a large number of other woods. The wood and the multipanel three dimensional design on the door are both aesthetically pleasing and quite luxurious. Thus, solid wood doors are normally the preferred type.
These doors contain at least three drawbacks. First, the wood is quite costly, thereby making the door expensive for the consumer. Additionally, the door is heavy since it is made entirely of solid wood. It is therefore relatively cumbersome and difficult to install. Finally, the solid wood out of which the door is made is subject to expansion and contraction due to changes in humidity and weather.
"Hollow core" doors have come into widespread use over the past several decades, partially because they are far less costly than solid wood doors. A hollow core door is constructed by first building a rectangular frame from four wood slats of equal width. The rectangle defined by the frame is made to be the size of the desired door. Next, a thin sheet of wood is bonded to each side of the wood frame. Cardboard is often wedged between the sheets of wood, in order to provide additional support and to maintain the spacing between the thin sheets of wood constant.
The problem with hollow core doors is that they are easily recognized as an inexpensive substitute for a real wood door. Hollow core doors are less aesthetically pleasing and luxurious looking, and people desiring an elite looking product are not happy with the doors. Thus, these customers are forced to spend large amounts of money on solid wood doors.
In view of the above, it can be appreciated that there exists a need for an affordable, easy to manufacture multipanel door which is easy to install and which gives the same aesthetically pleasing appearance as a solid wood door.